Tulsi Gabbard gets foreign affairs assignment plus Homeland Security

Newly elected Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has landed a coveted appointment on the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, Civil Beat has learned. The decision was made late last night, according to congressional sources.

On December 20, House leader Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Caucus announced then Congresswoman-elect Gabbard had been appointed as a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

For a freshman congress member to be given two powerful appointments reflects that she stands in good favor among the house and democratic party leadership.

According to House rules, members only can serve on two Committees.

Which subcommittees within the committees she is seated on is yet to be hashed out, that decision made consulting the Committee chairperson.

“As the U.S. pivots its focus toward the Asia-Pacific region, my work on the Foreign Affairs Committee will ensure Hawai’i benefits from, and provides leadership in, this shift in policy and strategy,” Gabbard said in a statement to Civil Beat. “By drawing on military background and experience leading counterterrorism training during my deployment to Kuwait, I plan to bring unique insights and a firsthand perspective to my position on the Homeland Security Committee. Given Hawai`i’s location and crucial international ports, I will work to bring into focus the impact our nation’s Homeland Security policies have on the islands.”